FONTANA - Erik Brown’s primary disappointment didn’t lie in the fact that his season was over.

Of lesser concern to the Summit High School receiver was the No. 1 playoff seed and defending CIF champions’ total of three points in a lopsided playoff loss to end the 2012 season.

As was the feeling after numerous games last year, Brown was disappointed the ball wasn’t thrown his way more often. He walked off the field Nov. 9 bitter that he hadn’t received any scholarship offers with only the 2013 season remaining in his high school career.

“We were just a bunch of individuals playing for our own stats last year, myself included,” Brown said. “When we lost to Paloma Valley, I wasn’t mad because we lost. I was mad because I didn’t get enough of a chance to shine. I was worried about my recruiting. I was just thinking about all the wrong things.”

After a humbling offseason for a program that has developed into one of the best in the Inland Empire, the Summit locker room is beginning to echo sentiments from 2011, the last time the SkyHawks won a CIF championship. Meaning “team” is the first and last word out of anybody’s mouth.

Brown has now seen both opposite extremes. He started as a sophomore on the 2011 team that claimed the first CIF title in the school’s short history.

He was the leading receiver last year for the squad that won a second consecutive Sunkist League championship before a short postseason was punctuated by a 22-3 loss to Paloma Valley.

He’s taking it upon himself to steer the 2013 team back in the direction of 2011.

“When I look back at last year, I have a lot of regret because all I thought about was myself,” Brown said. “But I’m glad I experienced all that because I get it now.”

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Ironically, now that the 6-foot-2 Brown is positioned to compile some gaudy statistics with the addition of a strong-armed transfer quarterback, his numbers are what he’s least concerned about.

As for the scholarship situation, well, that’s old news. Brown showed out on the offseason passing league circuit, pulling in more than 30 offers after the end of last season before committing to Washington July 2.

Among those who offered the four-star prospect ranked the No. 8 player in California by rivals.com were Notre Dame, UCLA, Nebraska, Boise State, Arizona, Oregon State and Cal.

“He just didn’t get a lot of touches last year with all of our running backs and we had trouble getting the ball to him deep because of our quarterback’s arm strength,” Summit coach Cesar Villalobos said. “He’s had the physical attributes. He just needed a chance to showcase them.”

Brown had just 21 receptions for 305 yards and three touchdowns last season.

For a little perspective on Summit’s emphasis on the passing game, or lack thereof, Brown had eight more catches and 79 more yards than the team’s second-leading receiver.

With the arrival of junior quarterback Keshon Flemings from Etiwanda, not to mention the incumbent fleet of receivers headlined by senior Jordan Washington who will prevent defenses from overloading on Brown’s side, Summit is expecting big things from its passing game.

“I think we can set some records,” Flemings said. “All my receivers are really fast and I’m confident in my arm. I’m hoping we can throw the ball about 50 percent of the time.”

Half the time may be a stretch, but consider that Summit had 111 pass attempts to 235 rushing attempts last season. Even a marginal improvement on that ratio could be enough to rewrite the record books.

Records and numbers are great, Brown said, but he is only interested in adding a second ring to his jewelry box.

“Erik is leading this team by example,” Summit receiver Jordan Washington said. “He’s holding himself accountable first and the rest of the team is doing the same thing. We’ve come together a lot since last year. We understand what we’re capable of doing if we do it together.”